or break elections but thursday's vice presidential debate comes on the heels of president obama's poor showing in denver, which puts more pressure obviously on joe biden to do well. we will have more on that in a moment with our political panel. four years ago, vice president biden of course debated sarah palin but he will be facing a much different opponent this time around. take a look. >> nice to meet you. can i call you joe? >> it started with a warm handshake and smiles all around. fra a friendly start to the vice presidential debate in 2008, pitting joe biden against relative newcomer to national stage, alaska governor sarah palin. >> john mccain said at 9:00 in the morning that the fundamentals of the economy were strong. 11:00 that same day, two mondays ago, john mccain said that we have an economic crisis. >> we're tired of the old politics as usual and that's why, with all due respect, i do respect your years in the u.s. senate, but i think americans are craving something new and different. >> biden was on his best behavior, carefully aiming his attacks at her running mate, j